While my A1C is more important than weight loss, I couldn’t resist weighing in on Sunday. Good news: another 2 pounds! So that makes 11 total since November.
Even though I fasted on Monday, I woke up Tuesday feeling like I gained weight. My jeans felt a little tighter, my belly looked a little fatter, and I resolved that I would not be stepping foot on a scale again any time soon.
I had lunch with friends and ordered a huge shrimp Cobb salad: 6 large shrimp, romaine, 1 egg, crumbled bleu cheese, avocado, bacon, cherry tomatoes, about 4 tablespoons of ranch dressing. I still cannot seem to remember to take photos of my food when I eat out.
I didn’t intend to fast two days in a row but, basically, I felt like I had gained and I wanted to give myself a boost. I had a pretty good night’s sleep but I was really tired and needed a nap. I also sipped bone broth, which helped. I also felt really cold. The temperature was in the 30’s. Not too bad, but I definitely had to turn up the heat a bit.
On Friday, I just ate some stuff that was already in the freezer that made weird meal combinations. For lunch, I thawed some beef stew and clam chowder. Dinner was a chicken sandwich with cheese, lettuce and tomatoes, and some buttered broccoli. Unfortunately, dinner sucked. The chicken was way too rubbery and bland. Can’t win ’em all.
I only take photos at the end of each month (posted below). Since I’ve actually lost a little bit of fat, I’ll begin by briefly summarizing the month of January:
The biggest factor was consistency with ADF (alternate day fasting). My exercise routine is minimal, but I also stayed fairly consistent with it. I rotate between some of Leslie Sansone’s walking videos. I have to do them first thing in the morning or else it’s probably not happening.
I only do clean fasting, meaning zero calories during my intermittent fasting periods. I drink black coffee, herbal tea or water with a little apple cider vinegar. No bulletproof coffee (with butter or MCT oil), no cream in the coffee and definitely no sweetener.
In my eating window, I’m as close to keto as possible. I do binge on nuts, which have a fair amount of carbs. I haven’t had anything sweet, with the exception of Splenda in my coffee and a few sips of a sugar-free chocolate latte (again, only during my eating window). I’m thinking of rewarding myself with a slice of my favorite low carb coconut cake (not exactly keto) on Sunday while I watch the Oscars.
I try to stick with OMAD (one meal a day) but, the day after an extended fast, I’ll typically have two meals – occasionally three.
Earlier in the month, I experienced several nosebleeds. No actual dripping, but the tissue still contained a fair amount of blood. Even with my room humidifier and a small pot of water sitting on top of a vent. Thankfully, the nosebleeds have pretty much stopped. I also had a few bad headaches, bordering on migraines, but those seem to have disappeared as well.
My blood glucose readings have been all over the place, so I just take them randomly. I definitely am affected by the dawn phenomenon. According to clevelandclinic.org, this is when the “body releases a surge of hormones, and they can work against insulin to cause blood sugar to rise slightly.”
Fasting (morning) blood glucose numbers are higher, which will correct itself in nondiabetic patients. I pretty much stopped testing in the morning, unless it’s after a fasting period that lasts longer than 50 hours. My A1C will be more accurate, so I’ll just wait for those results. Learn more about the dawn phenomenon here.
Towards the end of the month, I started taking chromium picolinate (2 capsules at 500 mcg each) on a daily basis. Chromium helps insulin to regulate blood glucose and I’ve had success with it in the past. My physical exam is set for April 21, so it will be almost exactly three months.
Since the A1C covers a three-month period, I wanted to make sure I was on the chromium for the entire period. I could have waited until after the exam to start, but I decided to get a little boost if at all possible.
I am overjoyed that I’ve finally started to shed some weight. Obviously, I could have lost more had I incorporated intermittent fasting (IF) and clean fasting and paid a little more attention to carb counts a little earlier. Oh, and maybe lay off the wine a little bit.
Intermittent fasting allowed me to consume a somewhat higher amount of carbs because I was in ketosis for much longer periods during the week.
I posted the following fat loss photos last week, but here they are again. I can’t wait to see what the end of February looks like!
February 2-8, 2020: Daily Food Journal
| Date | What I Ate | Photo |
| 2/2 | Naked fried chicken wings, cauliflower and cheese, collared greens, wine, pepperoni, hot sauce
I also ate about half my weight in almonds and pecans |
 |
| 2/3 | ALTERNATE DAY FASTING | ADF |
| 2/4 | 2 cups of coffee with Sweet & Low and half & half, large shrimp Cobb salad, ranch dressing
Almonds No-pasta-free lasagna, salad, 1/2 avocado, sauerkraut, walnuts, wine |
 |
| 2/5 | ALTERNATE DAY FASTING | ADF |
| 2/6 | ALTERNATE DAY FASTING | ADF |
| 2/7 | Beef stew, clam chowder, milk kefir (3 ounces) w/ inulin powder, walnuts
Chicken breast sandwich with “Velveeta”, buttered broccoli, almonds, walnuts |
 |
| 2/8 | ALTERNATE DAY FASTING | ADF |
